Delvene Cockatoo-Collins Art

10/08/2026

What a week in Darwin. ❤️

I’m so grateful to the team at Indigenous Fashion Projects and the National Indigenous Fashion Awards for creating this incredible platform for Indigenous designers and artists. To be recognised as Designer of the Year, sponsored by Country Road, is an honour.

And to have my work at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, surrounded by artists and designers from across Australia, was really special.

Thank you to the Larrakia people for your generosity. And to everyone who called by my booth at DAAF, purchased my work, shared a kind word, or has visited and supported me over the years — it means more than you know.

Thank you for all the support and love

Photo credit 🙏🏾
2. Quampie shell jacket, yungair satchel, Gulay dilly bag skirt worn by Chantelle Wunungmurra Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts 📸 (A)manda Parkinson Guardian Australia
3. Quampi shell top and Gulay dilly bag skirt. Chantelle Wunungmurra 📸 Michael Jalaru Torres
4. Accessories detail 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫
5. Quampi shell jacket detail with yungair satchel 📸 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫
6. Country Road team with the award by Anindilyakwa Arts
7. Peppermint Magazine Kelley Sheenan imogen.
8. Julie Shaw MAARA
9. mayatili
10. Sonya Coleman
11. Gulay jumpsuit 2024
12. Chrischona from Ikuntji Artists wearing Che Stow’s dress printed and made in Badu Art Centre ✨💕
13. Sandra Fields wearing my tawalpin - cotton tree skirt with ‘don’t folllow the W***y wagtail’ pocket detail from 2023
14. One of my dyed, painted and printed tees from 2023
15. In the last half hour of DAAF with Karen Rogers from Ngukurr Arts
16. Belle from DAAF wearing ‘where freshwater meets salt water 2024
17. 2026 NIFA Fashion Designer Award

02/08/2026

30/07/2026

CIAF Fashion 2026 | Reclamation & Regeneration

Presented on Yirrganydji Country, 2026 marked the beginning of a new chapter as CIAF Fashion found its new home at The Mill. Its industrial character and tropical surrounds framed an unforgettable program, bringing together Queensland First Nations designers alongside Indigenous creatives from Taiwan and New York in a powerful dialogue through fashion, movement, music and storytelling.

Guided by the curatorial theme Reclamation & Regeneration, each collection honoured cultural knowledge while imagining new futures - reclaiming narratives, celebrating identity and demonstrating the enduring strength of First Nations design.

To our designers, models, performers, choreographers, musicians, backstage crews, production teams, volunteers, sponsors, partners and audiences, thank you for bringing this vision to life.

Together, you continue to position CIAF Fashion as one of Australia's most distinctive platforms for contemporary First Nations fashion.

See you in 2027, as we look to the sky.

🎥 Blakground Productions

17/07/2026

CIAF is always a special time, bringing family and friends together from near and far.

Grateful to spend time with son and our family - Aunty Cath, Enochs, and with husband’s family ~ Cockatoo, Singleton, Miller, Yanner and Grogan ~ and with friends old and new at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF).

Thank you to Korina and Liana from Relative Arts and friends from Taiwan for being part of this year’s memories.

More from CIAF soon.

14/07/2026

13/07/2026

Feeling grateful to receive the Cultural Couture Award for my collection ‘Mat Making’ at CIAF 2026.

Congratulations to Yarrabah Art Centre and Irene Olive Adams, alongside all of the designers whose work brought this year’s runway to life.

Thank you to Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and Terri Janke & Company for supporting First Nations designers and creating space for our stories and fashion to continue to grow.

10/07/2026

Sharing a few highlights from this year’s Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) beginning with one of my favourite traditions. 🥹✨

Then and now.

From CIAF 2022 until now, one of the unexpected joys of returning each year has been watching these two grow up.

What began as a chance meeting, alongside their mum has become a friendship that continues to weave its way through booths and runways. Looking back through these photos, one from each year 2022 -> 2026, I’m reminded how quickly time passes.

Five years of CIAF memories, and it has been so special to witness them growing alongside my own journey here.

07/07/2026

This acknowledgement means so much.

To see my husband’s father, our children’s grandfather, Les Collins AM, recognised alongside Aunty Mary Martin AM, mum’s cousin, is a reminder of the strength, vision and dedication of the leaders who helped establish the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Brisbane and strengthen community-controlled healthcare for our people.

Their generation, together with so many other Elders and trailblazers, worked tirelessly for self-determination, culturally safe healthcare and a better future for our Communities. Their legacy continues to benefit generations.

With gratitude to the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council for honouring these remarkable leaders during NAIDOC Week.

Happy NAIDOC Week. ❤️🖤💛